Since the start of the new year, Better Business Bureau Northwest & Pacific has seen an uptick in customers searching for general contractors to help spruce up their homes. BBB has received more than 72,000 local inquiries to general contractors...

Prisons in the United States contain an ever growing number of aging men and women who cannot readily climb stairs, haul themselves to the top bunk, or walk long distances to meals or the pill line; whose old bones suffer from thin mattresses and...

Recently I needed some medical records sent from my previous doctor to a new specialist. I was stunned when this thoroughly modern medical practice told me the only way they could send them quickly was with a fax machine. When was the last time you...

Approximately 1 in 10 Americans age 60 and older have experienced some form of elder abuse. Broadly defined, elder abuse is any form of mistreatment that results in harm or loss to an older person. More specifically, the World Health Organization...

Donated Dental Services (DDS), a Dental Lifeline program, provides free dental services for qualifying seniors and those with disabilities in the Fairbanks and North Pole area. In order to be eligible, the patient must have exhausted all other...

Your new Medicare ID card will be arriving the old-fashioned way, via the US Postal Service. If you barely glance at your mail before you throw it in the garbage because of a deluge of junk mail, be on the lookout for this one. Starting in April and...

Did you know that if you have Medicare Part B you are eligible to receive a large number of preventive services that will cost you nothing? Medicare’s goal in offering these preventive screenings is...

We are now in our busiest month during spring health fair season, so check out our April fairs. Make it to one of the spring events in your local community before the end of the season and you’ll find a variety of resources to help meet your...

Dear Savvy Senior: My brother and his wife, who are ages 60 and 56, were recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and prediabetes, and neither one had a clue. Could I have it too? - Concerned Sibling Dear Concerned: According to the Centers for Disea...

The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in April. This month’s focus is on the basic spiritual needs throughout life, what may or may not change when someone is living with dementia, and ho...

Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska will offer free webinars in April and May. Participation is by either toll-free telephone call-in or online via GoToMeeting web conferencing. “Being the Decision Maker,” which discusses legal tools and processes...

The Anchorage Senior Activity Center has joined the National Council on Aging’s (NCOA) network dedicated to helping people with Medicare improve their financial outlook by enrolling in programs to help them afford health care, prescriptions, food a...

Want to secure your future? Start with AARP’s Medicare and retirement workshops around the state this spring. Free and open to the public. Attend any or all sessions offered within each workshop. April 13 and 14, Wasilla at Grand View Hotel, 2900...

April 10: This story has been updated to reflect a change in the teleconference schedule. April 12 has been cancelled, and an additional Thursday added for April 26. Keep track of senior-related bills, budget decisions and other issues by listening...

Since our move back to Palmer from Slana in 2011, I try to ride my bike around our subdivision on a daily basis unless the roads have ice and snow or if it's very windy. One day while riding in early...

Anchorage Genealogical Society’s (AGS) Annual Spring Seminar will be held at Changepoint Church in Anchorage on April 21, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. “Genealogy and DNA testing are hot topics right now,” said Barbara Burg, event coordinator for AGS....

Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times in April: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (April 10 and 24), 9 a.m. to noon....

Over time, your valuables change, and so do your options to protect them. Here are a few choices, including safe deposit boxes and home safes, along with suggestions on how to assess each option for your specific needs. 1) Think about what should or...

When you last signed a will, you might have noticed that after the main part of it, there was a bunch of added legal stuff. This is about that all-important added legal stuff. (Wait, you have signed a...

Q. I want an Amazon Echo, but my wife thinks it’s creepy to have a microphone listen to everything we say. What do you think? A. I think your spouse is very wise. New tech is always flawed, and smart speakers are very, very new. The privacy...